Like Preacher, Transmetropolitan had a short life � but for 60 brilliant, dazzlingly inventive issues, writer Warren Ellis and artist Darick Robertson brought their A-game. And the creation of Spider Jerusalem, gonzo journalist, imbiber of enough drugs to floor a struggling musician, and seeker of truth, was at the centre of it all. A foul-mouthed tribute to, most obviously, Hunter S. Thompson, Jerusalem is known as the God-King of journalists, who devotes his life to delivering the truth to his readers (one article simply repeated the word �fuck� 8,000 times � we have to try that sometime), no matter how unpalatable it may be for the establishment (which, incidentally, he�s trying to bring down). Not averse to taking the odd life in his quest (mostly in self-defence), Spider is a true one-off, a character so fearless and vibrant and nonchalantly cool that Patrick Stewart is his biggest fan. And if that�s not a recommendation, we don�t know what is.

FIRST APPEARED IN TRANSMETROPOLITAN #1 (1997)
CREATED BY WARREN ELLIS AND DARICK ROBERTSON